Last Saturday, February 2nd, Stella and I had a meeting regarding our Rube Goldberg project. We went in my basement and found the materials we needed to start building. Some of the materials we found included marbles, dominoes, marble run tubes, string, blocks, rocks, tape and much more! After watching, “The Lemonade Machine” by Sprice Machines on youtube we found some great ideas. Attached below is the video:

We decided for our Rube Goldberg project our first step would be based on “ The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train” ride. To create the first component we found wrapping paper rolls, tape, scissors and marbles. We first cut the wrapping paper rolls in half and created four separate pieces. Then we placed the cut wrapping paper roles on different angles, securing them to the wall with tape and placing the rolls underneath one another so the marble would travel down the tube and fall directly down into the next tube. Our first take was not a success because the marble bounced off the tube and fell on the floor. Our solution was to change the incline of the tubes to make it less steep so the marble would not fall off. Although the incline was better the marble still did not stay on the run. Our next thought was to add a plastic cup to block the marble from coming out of the tube. Our solution did not go as planned because the marble got stuck inside the cup. After that we decided to use the bottom of the cup. We tried to drop the marble down the run and by placing the cups backward the marble traveled in and out of the wrapping paper rolls successfully! Our first step was now complete!

The Seven Dwarf Mine Train

Our second step is based on the roller coaster, “Thunder Mountain.” Our supplies that we used for this step included connecting tubes (marble run tubes), marbles and tape. First we built a contraption using the connecting tubes to help the marble continue its travel from step one to step two. After we came up with a cool design for our connecting tubes, we started to build it. We had originally placed the connecting tube mechanism on the floor but the marble from the first step was not falling into the second step. We then stacked plastic boxes on top of one another so that we could meet the height of the first step. We started to test the “Thunder Mountain” marble run. Our solution was to connect another connecting tube to the marble run. We tested it one more time and it worked!

Step 2 : Thunder Mountain

For our third step we based our idea on the Disney ride “Splash Mountain.” The supplies that we used include marble run connectors, tape and a ball. To build Splash Mountain we first put together the marble run connectors. We taped the marble run connectors to the plastic box so that it would not move. Taking a match box car ramp, we balanced the ramp next to the run and placed a car on the floor. We tested it but the car was to heavy. Our solution was to replace the car with a ball. We tested it one more time and it finally worked!

Step 3 : Splash Mountain

The last step of the day was our fourth step which is based on the ride “Tower of Terror.” Some of the supplies include blocks, dominoes, string, a tennis ball and a car. We first watched a video how to make a pulley. After we put together blocks so the tennis ball could land on the table. We set up the dominoes on the floor and placed the car over the string. We tested it out and it worked! This is the link to watch the video on how to make a pulley:

Stella and I learned that we need to have more than one idea for each step. It was fun to see which ideas worked and which ideas did not. It was much harder than I expected. We can’t wait to keep on building our Disney Rube Goldberg project!